RAM and SSD prices could jump 50% by Q3 2026 — and it gets worse from there

Jefferies Equity Research is predicting a brutal stretch for memory prices driven by AI data centre demand hoovering up available DRAM and NAND supply. According to the firm's forecast, as reported by Wccftech, RAM and SSD prices are expected to climb 40–50% in Q3 2026, then another 30–40% in Q4 2026, followed by a 40–45% year-on-year increase through 2027. Any meaningful recovery isn't projected until 2028, and even then only a modest 15–20% pullback.

The situation is already squeezing PC builders and anyone eyeing a Steam Machine. Apple has started passing costs on to consumers, hiking iPad and MacBook prices by hundreds of dollars, with iPhones expected to follow. Former Samsung chairman Kyung-Hyeon Kye had previously suggested Chinese manufacturing capacity could ease the crunch earlier, but Chinese memory isn't actually undercutting the market the way that theory assumed.

The root cause is straightforward: AI infrastructure buildout is consuming memory at a pace that consumer and enterprise supply chains weren't designed to absorb. DRAM and NAND fabs take years to plan, fund, and bring online, which is why analysts aren't pencilling in relief until late in the decade. OpenAI alone reported a $38.53 billion loss in 2025, which raises real questions about how long hyperscaler spending at this scale can continue — but whether a slowdown in AI investment would actually translate to lower memory prices, or just lock in a new elevated baseline, is genuinely unclear.

For PC gamers and builders, the near-term outlook is grim. Upgrading RAM or picking up a new SSD is going to cost significantly more over the next 18 months, and there's no obvious catalyst to reverse that before 2028 at the earliest.